My read of this story is "government scientists say they need more study". That usually means grant money so these guys make their living and name through government funded study. If they don't find a subject to study then they are out of work.

Put these guys to work designing a more fuel efficient engine now that's what we need.

so when you hear science 'findings' on the news it is always a good idea, if you want and can, to check them. the best place for this is to try and access the actual published paper via http://www.pubmed.gov i searched "polycarbonate consumption" and the first hit was this article.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entre ... d_RVDocSumnow, you can read the full article if you want on elsevier, which is free to anyone with the internet, but for most non-scientists (and most scientists not experts in the field) the abstract is the best thing to read because it tells you everything you need to know in one paragraph.

From this paper it appears there may be some effect from using Nalgenes. Of course one paper does not necessarily prove one thing or another and some papers lack appropriate scientific rigor but you can guess numerous articles pointing in the same direction can't all be wrong (although they sometimes are). The biggest things about this paper are i don't know if the drinking bottles used were nalgenes, "Exposure to boiling water (100 degrees C) increased the rate of BPA migration by up to 55-fold," so heat does cause more significant levels of polycarbonate migration and "BPA was found to migrate from polycarbonate water bottles at rates ranging from 0.20ng/h to 0.79ng/h. At room temperature the migration of BPA was independent of whether or not the bottle had been previously used"

so, in layman's terms, is drinking out of a Nalgene as bad as putting a loaded .357 in your mouth?

Hahaha, I wouldn't worry about it, remember, exercise causes increased production of free radicals and so 'theoretically' raises your risk of cancer. but then again I'm just a lab rat and not a bone fide doctor. My hope is all the fresh air and mountain top views keep me healthy. and i think the only thing healthier than a loaded .357 is Christmas at your in laws, yowza!

Like I said earlier, as long as I die of plastic poisoning on the trail and not at the office, it's all good. If I can just keep my wife from reading any of these scientific articles, we'll all be fine. She had better not toss my beloved Nalgenes!

gsliva wrote:My read of this story is "government scientists say they need more study". That usually means grant money so these guys make their living and name through government funded study. If they don't find a subject to study then they are out of work.

Put these guys to work designing a more fuel efficient engine now that's what we need.

Amen, brother!

I've been contemplating switching from nalgene to a hydration bladder anyway. . . nah, I think I'll keep the nalgene

Life is too short to pay full retail for outdoor gear!

"God has cared for these trees, saved them from draught, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempasts and floods; but he cannot save them from fools; only Uncle Sam can do that."--John Muir

This discussion is making me feel better about my choice of water bottle providers.

The disposable soda bottles are made of polyethylene (#1), which is considered less safe than HDPE or LDPE, but at least they're cheap and plentiful. Reduce, reuse, recycle is the mantra, and "reuse" is better than "recycle".